Thursday, 12 August 2010

Malvern is a town of plenty

First things first - this afternoon I spent ages going back and replying to comments from the last month's worth of blog posts (give or take a few of the most recent) - I do mean to do this much more frequently, but somehow get behind... so if you asked a question and are awaiting the answer, or just fancied some sort of feedback, then it should be there now! Right... onto tonight's post.

Confession time... Last weekend was a fun-packed reunion of some folk from my Masters course, and we had a high old time. All sorts took place, but today we're talking about Malvern. Long-term readers of SiaB might just about remember a trip I took there two years ago (from which I have unceremoniously nabbed photos, since I didn't take my camera at the weekend). It's one of my favourite places - a spa town in Worcestershire, close(ish) to where I grew up, with pretty parks and - most importantly - a fantastic secondhand bookshop. Very reasonable prices, and an excellent selection, The Malvern Bookshop is definitely worth seeking out.

This might be sounding alarm bells... and rightly so, because... I bought a book. Sorry, no, make that two books. Ok! Stop interrogating me! I bought three books!

Ahem. That's six weeks of my allowance. Which takes me up to halfway through September. *Sigh* It's going to be a lean, lean August... leeeean, lean, lean.

Jane Austen by Sylvia Townsend WarnerI know very little about the 'Writers and Their Work' series (although this website is fairly informative) but this is its second appearance on Project 24 - earlier I bought Pamela Hansford Johnson's Ivy Compton-Burnett. This was another irresistible combination of authors...

Are They The Same At Home? by Beverley NicholsI still haven't read anything by Mr. Nichols, despite accruing quite a few, but this collection of portraits of notables, originally published in Sketch in 1926. To be honest, I haven't heard of most people featured, but mentions of E.F. Benson, Margaret Kennedy... it all looked too fun to ignore.

The Provincial Lady Goes Further by E.M. DelafieldLook away now, Colin... Yes, I do have a copy of this... but not one with A.P. Watt's illustrations! Plus this is my favourite of the series, and it will be nice to have it separate from the others... oh, I have no excuses, but I couldn't bring myself to leave it there...

Oh, and we went to The Theatre of Small Convenience- and enjoyed an 8 minute puppet show in rhyme about a turtle evading being baked in a pie. Possibly aimed at children... but we loved it, and it's charmingly done. Plus, four out of the five of us were vegetarian, so we cheered on our cause!

9 comments:

AHH! Drop everything you're doing and read Beverley Nichols! It's practically impossible to find his stuff in our second hand shops here in the Colonies. Only some of his reprinted garden books. I ordered 'Crazy Pavements' his book on the Bright young people, and the UK store says it should get here sometime before October 19...hmmmm? Enjoy!

Catching up here. You're on my blogroll, but I've missed a few posts...At random: I think you'll love Beverley Nichols. I have several of his books. He has his own, special, very cosy style.The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is our book group title for next month and I'm not even going to try it. Just don't fancy it at all, so was pleased to see your opinion.Great to see your bookshelves! I'm envious of all your Persephones. My collection is very small, still. Oh, and I quite agree with buying another, different version of a favourite book! DH had about four versions of Lord of the Rings when we got together!

I have 'Up the Garden Path' by Beverley Nichols and it's great, very funny, and because I like gardening and gardens, I identified with what he said. But anyone would like it - like PG Wodehouse, sort of.